PHOENIXVILLE - Officials in the Phoenixville Area School District are ready to move forward with their new school project after receiving a copy of a Chester County judge's decision rejecting objections made by the owners of Meadow Brook Golf Club.

At the end of last month, Judge Jacqueline Carroll Cody decided against the CY Group, which owns 50 percent of the golf club which was slated to be acquired by the school district after a Nov. 14 school board vote.

Cody said that the CY (pronounced 'sigh') Group and its legal representation did not provide a strong enough argument to prove that the school district overreached when it condemned the 50-plus acre property for a new school complex.

'We're pleased with the ruling,' said Stan Johnson, the school district's executive director of operations. 'We're ready to move forward with the land development process with the site and hopefully build a school for the kids.'

Bruce Campbell, who is one half of the CY Group with Patricia Young, could not be reached for comment Monday on whether they plan to appeal the ruling to a commonwealth court.

It's believed they have 20 days to make the appeal.

William Hagner, an attorney who represented them in court, did not return a message left at his office.

Johnson said the district was unsure of whether the Cy Group plans to appeal the ruling.

'That will be their decision to make, whether it's financial or on principle,' Johnson said.

Per the understanding of the district's lawyers, Johnson said, Meadow Brook's property now officially belongs to the school district.

As such, the district has begun talking to insurance companies about insuring the properties there, according to Johnson.

Johnson also said he hand-delivered documents to the Meadow Brook property last week which included a potential lease agreement which would allow the golf business to continue until the end of the season.

In order to decide on a 'fair market value' for the Meadow Brook property which the district will have to pay, a court-appointed board of view will now evaluate Meadow Brook and set the price which the school district must pay for the land.

'The viewers are usually lawyers or real estate professionals who are used to setting the value for land,' Johnson said.

District documents showed that the last offer made for the property was $5 million but Meadow Brook's owners wanted $8 million.

The property's 'best-use' appraisal, made by an independent party, was $3.725 million, according to the district.

Still, negotiations between the two sides can continue until the board of view makes a decision.

'As part of the correspondence I delivered, we did make an offer to them,' Johnson said. 'It's up to them to decide if they want to negotiate.'

School board Vice President Dan Cushing said in the last school board meeting that the 'all-in' cost could be $80 million, if the absolute maximum amount of work on the site needs to be done.

'The Phoenixville Area School District is eager to move forward in meeting the educational needs of all of our students,' an official statement from the district Monday read. 'This future facility allows us the ability to provide equitable resources for students from all areas of the District.'